At the green classroom we made flower manadalas or Rangoli is a traditional decorative folk art from India. These are decorative designs made on floors of living rooms and courtyards during Hindu festivals and are meant as sacred welcoming areas for the Hindu deities. First we painted a shape on the floor and then we cut up green leaves, roses and all the spectrum of colors from the garden to make our flowers on the floor. All the classes participated and then sang a song to commemorate its destruction.
Song around flower mandala
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gPXpR0rBHHY&feature=youtube_gdata_player

Making leaf rubbing with crayon
Today we made leaf rubbings with crayon and they turned out quite well, all the age groups were able to make them without difficulty. First we put the leaf under the paper and then positioned it on the page. Then we rubbed a crayon without paper on it’s flat side. It makes quite an impression! We varied it with different colored paper and crayon. Many children made several. Then we were able to see the veins in the leaf very clearly. Then we took the magnify glass and looked at the veins on the leaf.

Christmas wreath
I gathered some grapevine and wrapped it around itself to form a wreath. Then I gathered rosemary, vine with red berries, artemesia, sage, Cyprus, pine bows. The children stuffed them in under the vines to form a nice shape. Then they helped me tie it with wire to hold together. Some of the children made pictures with a tree. We then made a sign that said Merry Christmas from the green classroom. I took it to the office and they hung it above the door.
MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Today I did flower arranging at the health center with the residents. We did things alittle differently by using a ikebana style structures using stems inside the vases and bowls. It was awe inspiring seeing the flowers just stand up with the very simple way residents put the flowers in. So minimal effort was needed to make this happen on their part. We had crysanthemums or white yellow, red/brown. We also had dalias of pink. These made the residents remember old times. One of the residents was playing old melodies on the piano…